Arriving at the An Family's place, Lin Jie first greeted An Weize, Zhai Siying, and Tang You, then exchanged pleasantries with a few unexpected guests.
One of them was Zou Manqing's mother.
Since he had t her more than once, Lin Jie rembered her and didn't need the An sisters' reminder to address her correctly.
This made the An sisters' aunt quite happy.
There was also a middle-aged woman whom Lin Jie only recognized as An Kexin's third aunt after a reminder from An Kexin.
An Kexin finally pointed to a middle-aged man and said, "Ah Jie, this is a distant uncle!"
"Uncle is uncle, why specifically add 'distant'?"
The middle-aged man deliberately put on a stern face and reminded, "Blood relations can't compare to close relations!"
"Kexin, your dad and I grew up together. When soone bullied your father as a child, I was always there to help him out!"
He then looked at Lin Jie, smiling as he said, "My niece has good taste."
"In the past, I took a lot of effort to introduce several boyfriends with decent conditions to her, but she didn't fancy any of them. Now she suddenly falls for the extraordinary Expert Lin."
"I have to say, this is fate indeed."
"Yes, it's fate. Being with Kexin is destined fate." Lin Jie half-heartedly agreed.
The middle-aged man waved over a young man standing a few ters away and introduced, "Expert Lin, this is my youngest son, An Zhiyao."
"He just graduated from college and works at a bank, naturally not as accomplished as you, Expert Lin."
"You're both young, surely you'll have lots in common to talk about, and you should interact more often."
This was a fair-skinned, sowhat tall and thin young man, who looked a bit reserved. When he noticed Lin Jie's gaze, he gave a faint smile.
Lin Jie nodded slightly in response.
At this mont, the third aunt also brought over a slightly pudgy young man and introduced, "Expert Lin, this is my nephew, Tian Run. He works in the district governnt as a principal staff mber."
This Tian Run, quite familiar on his own, said with a smile, "Expert Lin, I've heard your na often through various channels."
"I told my colleagues we are relatives, and they said I was lying and boasting."
He took out his phone and ca over, "Let's take a photo together; then I'll have evidence to prove them wrong."
After taking a few pictures, Lin Jie exchanged a few half-hearted words, then approached Tang You, who was sitting in a wheelchair.
So thin, too thin, with a sense of bones standing out against the skin.
Lin Jie looked at Tang You, whose cheekbones were extrely prominent, once again feeling that a strong gust of wind could blow her away.
Her ear-length short hair also lacked much luster; the only thing that Lin Jie felt was okay was that her eyes still seed bright.
This might be an illusion caused by her eyes appearing larger after her face got terribly thin.
Lin Jie reached out, held Tang You's wrist, sensed her blood pressure and heartbeat, and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Tang You looked up at Lin Jie and said with so relief, "Dr. Lin, to be honest, so ti ago, I truly felt worse than death; I was so uncomfortable I couldn't sleep, and had no appetite."
"Last week, I suddenly slept for four hours."
"Since that night, I've been sleeping longer each night, now I can sleep for six hours."
"I know the toughest ti has finally passed."
Lin Jie released her wrist and said, "Your heart rate is a bit fast and pulse pressure sowhat weak, but considering your current physical condition, it's within the normal range."
"Your bone injury has been recovering for quite so ti; you can move with crutches now, don't always stay in a wheelchair."
Tang You nodded, "I do move around every day."
"It's just that my aunt says I'm too weak now, and should wait until I recover so flesh before I walk around more."
Lin Jie replied with an "Mm," without saying more.
Just then, light laughter ca through, and Lin Jie looked in the direction of the sound, seeing Tian Run and An Zhiyao in the corner of the living room talking with Lin Miao and An Keng.
He had no idea what amusing thing was said, causing Lin Miao and An Keng to burst into constant laughter.
Lin Miao laughed more reservedly, while An Keng laughed more unrestrainedly, without any concealnt.
From their small intentions, Lin Jie naturally figured it out.
Even though he felt displeased, in such an occasion he couldn't just let Lin Miao ignore them, he could only remind her after they returned.
"Expert Lin, could we have a word?"
Noticing Zou Manqing's mother coming over, Lin Jie softly said, "No problem, Auntie, please go ahead!"
Moving away from the crowd a bit, Zou's mother first sighed and then said, "Originally, I shouldn't trouble you with this, but I have no better solution."
"It's about Manqing and that boy Xiao Ganghao…"
Lin Jie asked with concern, "Is there so emotional issue between them?"
"Their relationship is quite fine, it's just, well, Manqing and Xiao Ganghao's mother have so issues."
Zou's mother said angrily, "During the ti she was recovering at ho after surgery, Xiao Ganghao was busy learning from you, and it was mostly our Manqing taking care of her."
"Although Manqing has been spoiled since she was little, she ended up acting as both nanny and caregiver at his house, working hard for over a month to nurse her back to health."
"But they don't appreciate it at all and have always treated Manqing coldly."
"Expert Lin, to put it plainly, that person is very warm towards neighbors, treats the family monkey exceedingly well, but completely ignores my Manqing. This is definitely cold violence."
Lin Jie couldn't help but furrow his brows.
One thing he knew was that Xiao Ganghao's mother was not very satisfied with Zou Manqing.
At the ti, she agreed to this likely because of health concerns, fearing any eventualities, she had no choice but to agree.
Now that her health has recovered, is her mind starting to beco active again?
Then he heard Zou's mother continue, "Well, if she's indifferent, she's indifferent. There are few good mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships. Keeping a respectful distance is not that bad."
"I just didn't expect that recently, she's frequently inviting a girl to their house for als, always when Xiao Ganghao is ho."
"Expert Lin, isn't this mother-in-law's intention too obvious?"
"Recently, every ti Manqing cos back, she just hides in her room and cries."
Zou's mother looked into Lin Jie's eyes and said seriously, "Manqing is my daughter, and I've always treasured her. I can't allow anyone to treat her like nothing."
"Expert Lin, you are Xiao Ganghao's teacher, considered his elder. Plus, you're also Manqing's cousin-in-law and the witness to their engagent."
"Shouldn't you do sothing about this?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Jie got a headache.
He never shies away from difficult dical problems, but with this kind of family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship, he genuinely felt at a loss.
This is a case of even a wise judge can't settle family disputes.
He honestly said, "Auntie, it's not that I'm shirking, but for such matters, I have no experience... I don't know how to handle it."
Looking at Lin Jie's overly young face, Zou's mother suddenly realized.
This guy in front is a year or two younger than her daughter.
If it was Lin Jie and her daughter back then...
Zou's mother internally regretted it for a mont and after clearing her thoughts, said, "Expert Lin, I understand, outside diation in such matters is useless, it mainly depends on Xiao Ganghao's attitude."
"I want to ask you to talk to Xiao Ganghao."
"There are things that when said from our side, he might have different thoughts. But you're different; you're soone he respects."
"Xiao Ganghao shouldn't lie to you; he must give an explanation for this matter."
Lin Jie felt a bit relieved, nodded, and said, "Auntie, that I can do."
"Don't worry, I'll find ti to talk to him soon... "
Having accepted this troubleso task and with two nagging flies buzzing around Lin Miao, Lin Jie felt that coming to the An family for dinner was a mistake.
"A Jie..."
Hearing An Weize's call, Lin Jie walked over to the bay window in the living room, sat down, and shared tea with An Weize and his distant uncle.
After drinking a cup of kung fu tea, Lin Jie heard An Weize say, "A Jie, I've heard that the Luo Family has already bought Kangning Hospital."
"Also, the new plan for Kangning Hospital has been approved by the governnt, and they plan to build a skyscraper and a comrcial complex on the original site."
"So fast? Isn't the counterfeit drug case of Kangning Hospital not yet concluded?" Lin Jie was puzzled.
An Weize sighed and said, "I heard the Luo Family did a lot of work behind the scenes, smoothing many relationships."
"And, so ti ago, the Hu Family threw in a large amount of money to negotiate with the victims of the counterfeit drugs and their representing law firms, reaching compensation and understanding agreents in most cases."
"Without the voices of many victims, many things beco easier to handle."
Lin Jie understood that with money, many things could indeed be accomplished.
"This ti, the Luo Family must have paid a lot, right?"
An Weize nodded and said, "At least not less than a billion."
"However, the land of Kangning Hospital is in a rare good position in a bustling city district. Short-term, the Luo Family can't get another location as good as this."
"For the Luo Family, paying a bit of a premium is worth it."
He sighed, "The Luo Family's background is sowhat unclear. For Luo Wantong to return to the country this ti, there must be a pledge. This skyscraper is a pledge."
" An investnt of one or two hundred billion, not exactly light."
Lin Jie chuckled, "The Luo Family isn't a mint. There's always a financial limit, and investing in such a big project will naturally impact Phoenix Mountain Hospital, at least significantly increasing the pressure on profitability."
"From the word that's been put out, more than half of their attending physician positions are filled by foreigners, and they have a deep collaboration with Johns Hopkins Hospital..."
"In such a case, if they want to be profitable, their pricing standard would have to be extraordinarily high."
An Weize nodded slightly, lightly smiling, "That's what I think too."
"With you, A Jie, plus our wholehearted commitnt to building a good Anlin Hospital, and the Luo Family's focus clearly not on Phoenix Mountain Hospital..."
Just then, An Kexin ca out of the kitchen with a phone, walked over with a face as still as water, and said, "Dad, A Jie, Tiande dical Technology Research Institute just sent an official email notification."
"They've decided to cancel our collaboration."
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